Moving

Despite the longstanding acclaim Shinji Somai’s Moving (1993) has received from prominent contemporary Japanese filmmakers such as Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Hirokazu Kore-eda, the film remains shamefully underseen in North America because it was caught up in licensing purgatory for years. Hopefully, Cinema Guild’s recent acquisition of the North American theatrical rights from MK2 will change that. Based on the 1988 Hiko Tanaka novel of the same name, the coming-of-age drama follows a scrappy young girl named Renko (Tomoko Tabata) as she reckons with her sense of self after her parents’ messy divorce tears her comfortable Kyoto family unit apart.

As is often the case with adolescent odysseys, Renko does not choose her journey–it’s thrust upon her. At home, Renko fights with her mother; at school, minor behavioral infractions escalate to threatening her classmates with fire. Renko acts tough but doesn’t fully understand her motivations. She does not realize that she’s clinging to her idyllic image of a nuclear family. In a subconscious effort to recreate the past, Renko tricks both of her parents into taking her on vacation at the same seaside resort they’d all traveled to years ago. Tabata, in her debut performance, is both lively and grounded; her tenacity of spirit is essential to the success of the film.

Somai, who made 13 features and died at the age of 53 in 2001, is best known for his tender portraits of youthful struggle such as Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (1983) and Typhoon Club (1985). But the emotionally affecting and surreal denouement in Moving achieves a level of transcendence unrivaled in his filmography. In it, Ren wakes up on the beach to a vision of her younger self happily playing in the water with her loving parents as a fiery dragon boat passes by. While the boat burns down, the older and wiser Ren becomes a voyeur of her own life as she watches her disappointed younger self watch her parents disappear into the waves. “Dad! Mom! Where are you going? Don’t leave me alone!” Ren’s inner child begs as Shigeaki Saegusa’s score swells.

It’s difficult to resist getting swept away by the melodrama of the moment until the older Ren makes an unexpected move. “Congratulations!” she shouts, furiously waving her arms above her head. “Congratulations!” The two Renkos embrace; no longer volatile, Renko can let go. Blurring the lines between memory, dream, and reality using his signature mode of long, fluid camera movements, Sōmai creates an incomparably poignant moment in coming-of-age cinema that is, well, moving.

The new restoration of Moving opens Friday, August 16, at the Roxie.

Previously:

Moving screens this evening, July 19, at Japan Society as part of “Japan Cuts 2024.” Tomoko Tabata will be in attendance for a Q&A.